I was born in a Prefab built on bomb rubble in one of the poorer areas of London, England, after the Second World War. What had once been a densely packed industrial/ residential area alongside the Grand Surry Canal was quickly leveled by the notorious V1 and V2 bombs during the Blitz. The V2 Rockets were the first ballistic missiles. They weighed 13 tons and traveled faster than the speed of sound giving people no warning of their imminent arrival. The street I was born on was leveled by a V1 bomb, a pilotless plane also known as a Doodlebug.
Our Prefab had arrived in a box, was deposited on the leveled rubble and built in 48 hours. These houses weren't built to last, but were built to warehouse all of those who had been dispossessed because of the devastation of war and its resulting acute housing shortage. The fact that in some instances war-damaged aircraft were melted down to produce these houses and that POWs assisted in their construction, helped to make the Prefab a symbol of Britain rising from the ashes of war.. Newly transferred by the BBC from Edinburgh to London to cover the 1948 Olympics, my father along with my mother saw first hand the devastation that the war had wreaked during the Blitz.
In time all housing eventually was removed and the area was turned into Burgess Park. It sits on 50 hectares in one of London’s most deprived boroughs with about 70,000 people living within 5km of the park. In 2009 a successful bid raised close to $3 million dollars to refurbish the park to become a family friendly place where densely packed urban dwellers could enjoy green space.
The ruins of Jardin Street, London, the site where I was born. The grounds were leveled and the Prefabs erected. This area is now Burgess Park
For many, the hangover from the war, rationing, unemployment, and the lack of opportunity opened the floodgate and like thousands before us my family became immigrants to Canada.
As a young adult I was drawn into the Canadian Post-War, Post-Depression myth that was prevalent in the 50's and 60's; a log cabin in the wilderness where life could be lived in independence without the interference of government or social constructs. I too became part of this group participating in the 'back to the land' movement of the 60s', 70's and 80's. This instilled in me a profound appreciation for the natural world, a central theme of my artistic practice.
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